Try A Psalm and a Song

I had been late to Bible Study the week before and evidently missed the homework assignment.
“Bring your favorite Psalm and an old Hymn to share,” Anita Smith, my Bible teacher had said. “Now Donna, you were here last week, so you should’ve known.” Only those that Anita considers one of her daughters, does she talk to like that, in her heavy Southern accent. Nobody was going to get away with not sharing today!
I noticed several women bringing in I-pods and cassette players for their songs and I thought, “Oh, no!” I hate homework, and I hate to unprepared for anything, although probably I would’ve gotten nervous about speaking in front of the group. So, the Lord knew that He had a plan, for me to learn to be spontaneous, If you ask my daughters they will tell you that spontaneous is not a word that would be used to describe me.
I knew immediately what my favorite Psalm is: Psalm 27. Picking between the old Hymns that have always ministered to my heart, that was a different story. And to sing in front of everyone acapella, well, I didn’t want to do it, but started brainstorming about the song. I found the words to “Victory in Jesus” stuck in my Bible and thought, “Well, I could go with it.” But it really wasn’t one of my favorites and when another woman sang it, I knew I didn’t want to use it. An old favorite is “It is Well with my Soul,” but for some reason the song “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” would not get out of my mind. Both Psalm 27 and the song were also favorites of my mother, so I decided to go with them. I thought mine might be a popular one and someone ahead of me might already read it, but Anita encouraged us to reread if we had the same one. Psalm 23 was a favorite to many and since Amazing Grace is a favorite also, Anita said we would sing it together at the end.
I knew the Holy Spirit was among as one by one each lady’s voice broke as they read their Psalm or sang their song. I wasn’t prepared though for the weeping that accompanied my reading or singing.


I encourage anyone reading this to click the link to listen to the song and to be spontaneous at your next Bible Study. Read a Psalm and a song; You will be blessed!
Psalm 27 A Psalm of David.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me


To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,


In this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:


That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;


In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;


I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.


When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;


You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the LORD will take care of me.
Teach me Your way, O LORD,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.


Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD! New King James Version (NKJV)

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of Glory died;
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.


Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.
See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown.


Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.


(lyrics; Isaac Watts) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkx8WAycYAc&feature=related